1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid collecting apparatus, and more particularly, to a fluid collecting apparatus which may easily collect fluid from a desired depth and region within a borehole, and thereby may reduce a time and effort to collect the fluid.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a hydraulic test and geochemical analysis have been conducted to examine hydraulic characteristics of a borehole in a medium such as a crystalline rock. A groundwater collecting apparatus has been used to collect groundwater sample for the test and analysis.
A general groundwater collecting apparatus in a conventional art is described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a groundwater collecting apparatus in a conventional art. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the groundwater collecting apparatus of FIG. 1 where expanded packers are adhered to an inside of a borehole.
In the conventional art, the groundwater collecting apparatus may include an upper packer 10 and a lower packer 30, supply pipes 20 and 40, a coupling pipe 60, and a guide tube 50. The supply pipes 20 and 40 may supply expansion fluid to the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30, and thereby provide pressure to the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30. The coupling pipe 60 may couple the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30. The guide tube 50 may guide groundwater (W) in a collecting space between the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30 to an outside of a borehole (H).
As illustrated in FIG. 2, a pair of packers, the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30, may be provided with the fluid through the supply pipes 20 and 40, and expanded. Accordingly, the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30 may be adhered to an inside of the borehole (H), and an area between the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30 in the borehole (H) may be hydraulically isolated.
Also, the supply pipes 20 and 40 may include the upper supply pipe 20 and the lower supply pipe 40. The upper supply pipe 20 may supply the expansion fluid to the upper packer 10, and the lower supply pipe 40 may supply the expansion fluid to the lower packer 30. The lower supply pipe 40 communicates with the upper supply pipe 20.
Accordingly, when the expansion fluid is provided to the upper packer 10 through the upper supply pipe 20, the expansion fluid may be provided to the lower supply pipe 40 communicated with the upper supply pipe 20. Thus, the expansion fluid may be provided to the lower packer 30. That is, the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30 may be relatively simultaneously expanded and adhered to the inside of the borehole (H) by supplying the expansion fluid to the upper supply pipe 20.
Also, an inlet hole 62 may be formed in the coupling pipe 60. The inlet hole 62 may collect the groundwater (W) in a collecting space isolated by the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30. A plurality of segments is combined in the coupling pipe 60, and may maintain a gap between the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30. The coupling pipe 60 may couple the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30. Accordingly, the groundwater (W) in a desired depth and region within the borehole (H) may be collected by adjusting a number of segments of the coupling pipe 60.
In order to adjust a depth and region in the conventional art, however, the groundwater collecting apparatus inserted in the borehole (H) is required to be lifted up to the ground, the number of segments to be adjusted, a length of the coupling pipe 60 to be adjusted, and the groundwater collecting apparatus to be again inserted in the borehole (H). Accordingly, a great amount of time and effort are spent.
Also, since the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30 are simultaneously expanded and shrunken, the groundwater (W) may be collected in a particular area. Also, the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30 may not function as a single packer to collect groundwater above a particular water level and groundwater below a particular water level.
Also, as the coupling pipe 60 includes the plurality of segments and the length of the coupling pipe 60 may be adjusted based on the number of segments, only a limited number of possible gaps between the upper packer 10 and the lower packer 30 may be available.